This invention relates to an apparatus for guiding flexible supply lines which are supported by a guide chain which is connected to a stationary connection point on the one hand and to a mobile supply station on the other hand, and the surplus length of which is taken up and laid down in a loop during the movement of the supply station.
Drag chains of this type consist of a plurality of chain links, within which flexible supply lines are guided (see German Utility Model No. 6,604,853). Specific minimum radii of curvature are prescribed for such supply lines by the manufacturer; it is important not to fall below them in order to ensure reliable transport of the medium to be transmitted in the long term.
For this purpose the chain links are provided with stops, upon which the chain links are braced and which thus prevent the drag chain from falling below a certain radius of curvature in the region of its loop. It is therefore necessary to manufacture different chain links for different prescribed minimum radii of curvature of the supply lines, which makes the production and stockholding of the chain links extremely onerous. It is also necessary to respect precise tolerances for the stops, in order to obtain a specific radius of curvature. It is also found that with high movement frequencies and movement speeds, such as are encountered with maintenance units on open-end spinning machines for example, these stops are very heavily stressed, so that the radius of curvature laid down for the guide chain cannot be ensured in the long term.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a support device to guide flexible supply lines which avoids these disadvantages.